A NURSING home resident is hoping to release her first poetry book - at the age of 80.

Sylvia Burns, who lives at St Georges Nursing Home, in Witham, has been working on the book since she moved to the home three years ago.

In the book's introduction, she explains how her love for poetry developed following a chat with a fellow resident, Errol Flynn.

She writes: "Errol is a keen biker and his wife Gill had bought him a toy Father Christmas on a motorbike.

"We were chatting about this and about Santa’s reindeers falling sick and that is how my first poem came about.

"Since then I have enjoyed writing poems about many different subjects.

"Some of which have been inspired by artwork that we have produced at the resident’s art club in the home.

"This book is a selection of what I have written so far."

She is hoping to sell copies of her book to raise cash for the resident’s fund at the home.